Law Commons^™

Concealing More Than Your Affairs: A Deep Dive Into The World Of Cryptocurrency And Its Future Influence On Family Law In Ohio, Milica Prica

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note dives into the world of cryptocurrency and family law in Ohio. With its current popularity and dramatic fluctuations, cryptocurrency has created a new legal issue in the family law practice. Specifically, this Note focuses on the concealability of Bitcoin and how that influences division of property, spousal support, and child support in Ohio divorce proceedings and settlements. To tackle this issue, this Note begins with the history of Bitcoin, its value since the beginning, as well as the reason for its fluctuations. This Note also looks into what makes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency forms so concealable. This Note …

Defining Genetic Information Under Gina, Shane Padilla

Cleveland State Law Review

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) was enacted to prevent discrimination based on an employee’s genetic information. Although GINA undoubtedly provides employees protection from unjust genetic discrimination by employers, varying interpretations of what constitutes “genetic information” has raised legal uncertainties in how GINA is applied. Consequently, the genetic information of an employee’s family may be unduly placed at risk as a result of misinterpreting the statutory language and legislative intent of GINA. It is of the utmost importance that the definition of “genetic information” be construed with respect to the Act’s legislative history, which supports a broad interpretation and application …

Ohio's Love-Hate Relationship With Marital Agreements: Why Ohio Should Lift Its Prohibition On Postnuptial Agreements, Natasha Wasil

Cleveland State Law Review

Ohio has been accepting of prenuptial agreements since its landmark decision in Gross v. Gross in 1984, declaring them to be not void per se as being against public policy. Unfortunately, Ohio’s evolution of the law regarding marital agreements has remained at a stand-still since Gross. Through the twenty-first century, a majority of states have responded to the evolution of marriage by enacting legislation, or judicially by court order, to allow spouses to enter into contracts after marriage to allocate the division of property and legal obligations of the couple in the event of divorce, commonly known as “postnuptial …

The Right To Unmarry: A Proposal, Brian L. Frye, Maybell Romero

Cleveland State Law Review

When I say I’m in love, you better believe I’m in love, L-U-V.

[April 2, 2020] BLF: This is a marriage proposal in the form of a law review article. In this Article, I observe that Maybell Romero and I are in love. I want to marry her, and I believe she wants to marry me. At least I’ll find out pretty soon. But we cannot marry each other right now, because we are both currently married to other people. Maybell and I want to end our existing marriages, and our respective spouses have even agreed to divorce. But the …

Now, I'M Liberal, But To A Degree: An Essay On Debating Religious Liberty And Discrimination, Francis J. Beckwith

Cleveland State Law Review

This essay is a critical analysis of the book authored by John Corvino, Sherif Girgis, and Ryan T. Anderson, Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination. The book offers two contrary views on how best to think about some of the conflicts that have arisen over religious liberty and anti-discrimination laws, e.g., Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm’n, 138 S. Ct. 1719 (2018). One position is defended by Corvino, and the other by Girgis and Anderson. After a brief discussion of the differing views of religious liberty throughout American history (including the American founding), this essay summarizes each …

Is More Parental Leave Always Better?: An Analysis Of Potential Employee Protections For Leave Offered Outside The Fmla, Natalie Bucciarelli Pedersen

Cleveland State Law Review

In the past few years, many large companies, including Netflix, Amazon and Facebook have implemented expanded—and very generous—parental leave policies. While on the surface these policies seem employee-friendly and even big-hearted, when one explores the potential consequences of taking such leave, the policies are fraught with potential dangers for employees. In a groundbreaking new study, researchers have found that employers view time off or flexible work arrangements made for an employee’s personal reasons as negatively reflecting on an employee’s work commitment. But what happens if a company decides to terminate an employee because they have taken leave and are viewed …

The "P" Word: Ohio Should Adopt The Uniform Premarital Agreements Act To Achieve Consistency And Uniformity In The Treatment Of Prenuptial Agreements, Jenna Christine Colucci

Cleveland State Law Review

Throughout the United States, courts have used inconsistent standards for the interpretation of prenuptial agreements. Under Ohio jurisprudence, courts are concerned with protecting the vulnerable spouse or the economically disadvantaged party. This legal standard acknowledges the unique relationship of the parties to the contract and will generally review the procedural and substantive components of the prenuptial agreement. Conversely, other courts are weary of interfering with the contractual freedom of the parties and will only invalidate a prenuptial agreement upon a showing of fraud, duress, or misrepresentation. The Uniform Premarital Agreement Act was drafted in 1983 to address the inconsistent treatment …

In The "Best Interests" Of The Disabled: Legislating Morality And The Power To Initiate Support Orders For Disabled Adults In Ohio, Kalynne Proctor

Cleveland State Law Review

Today’s reality is that many families have children who are faced with disabling conditions that prevent them from relinquishing their dependency on others. Often, the need for specialized treatment and care does not terminate once a severely disabled child reaches adulthood. While typically parents are relieved of their legal parental obligations to their adult-aged children, this is not the same case for parents with severely disabled children. In some respects, Ohio has recognized the financial difficulties divorced parents face when they are the sole caregivers of disabled adult children. Although Ohio law requires that the noncustodial parent in a divorce …

The Empirics Of Child Custody, Margaret Ryznar

Cleveland State Law Review

Child custody issues are as American as apple pie, with only a quarter of children seeing their parents married until the end. The legal standard for custody is the best interests of the child, but the greyness of this inquiry allows courts to make difficult judgments. In family law, such discretionary standards govern factually diverse cases and make it difficult to draw conclusions from individual cases. This Article offers an objective measurement in family law by empirically examining a sample of Indiana divorce cases filed during three months in 2008 that involved children. The resulting analysis of child custody and …

Shielding Ohio's Newborns: Defending A Broad Interpretation Of Child Within The Meaning Of O.R.C. Sec. 3113.31, John Hofstetter

Cleveland State Law Review

This note argues that viable fetuses should be viewed as “children” within the meaning of O.R.C. § 3113.31, therefore qualifying them for the protections afforded by civil protection orders. It focuses on the urgent need for such an interpretation based on child safety concerns arising primarily after the birth of the child, rather than those existing while the child is still in utero.

A Plea For Permanence After Termination Of Parental Rights: Protecting The Best Interests Of The Child In Ohio, Daniel A. Starett

Cleveland State Law Review

Ohio's R.C. 2151.313 must be amended to allow the courts to protect the best interest of the children for whom they are in place to serve, even if this means that occasionally a parent who was once adjudged to be incapable of caring for her child, and whose rights were subsequently terminated, may be the best, and often only, option to save that child from the dangers of the foster care system. Part II of this Note will explore the dangers of exposure to the foster care system, illustrate why we need to protect children from prolonged exposure to the …

What The Erie Surrogate Triplets Can Teach State Legislatures About The Need To Enact Article 8 Of The Uniform Parentage Act (2000) , Robert E. Rains

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article will explain the protracted legal battles over the "surrogate triplets" and explore potential legislation designed to avoid such battles in the future. While reasonable minds could certainly differ as to the wisdom of the legislative scheme proposed in Article 8 of the UPA (2000), or as to some of its details, surely it would be a vast improvement over the current situation in which most state legislatures have failed to address surrogacy through statutes and those that have done so have failed to act in a uniform manner. As the Erie triplets case amply demonstrates, the state courts …

The Only Americans Legally Prohibited From Knowing Who Their Birth Parents Are: A Rejection Of Privacy Rights As A Bar To Adult Adoptees' Access To Original Birth And Adoption Records, Susan Whittaker Hughes

Cleveland State Law Review

Sadly, adult adoptees in America must confront the reality that, in most states, their right to access their original birth and adoption records is a very narrow right statutorily granted only to those who can show good cause. Part II of this paper will explore the reasons why adult adoptees search for information regarding their biological origins and the history of adult adoptees' access to original birth and adoption records. Part III will give a brief overview of the concept of constitutional privacy and discuss the several categories of privacy currently recognized in American law and the relationship between privacy …

How Parents And Children Disappear In Our Courts - And Why It Need Not Ever Happen Again, James A. Cosby

Cleveland State Law Review

Part One of this Article further examines those moral, factual and legal dynamics in the family that make these cases so difficult. Part Two summarizes the present state of the law, and demonstrates precisely where and why the current legal approach is falling short. I will show how the law specifically fails to adequately define the rights of parents, substantively as well as procedurally and, I will furthermore demonstrate how, in their current forms, the doctrines of parental autonomy and the best interests of the child are far too broad and too rigid for many cases involving the parent-child relationship. …

Prenuptial Agreements: A New Reason To Revive An Old Rule, Jeffrey G. Sherman

Cleveland State Law Review

This article is divided into five parts. The first part discusses the justification for our society's continued promotion of the institution of marriage. The second discusses why prenuptial agreements have become so widespread. The third gives an account of American courts' shift from rejecting prenuptial agreements to routinely enforcing them. The fourth presents my argument for treating as inequitable per se the enforcement of prenuptial agreements. And the fifth explores how the adoption of my view of prenuptial agreements might affect the popularity of marriage.

Squeezing Subjectivity From The Doctrine Of Unconscionability, Paul Bennett Marrow

Cleveland State Law Review

Issues of unconscionability are most often encountered in two arenas: commercial agreements and family law agreements. In the first arena this Article proposes that the analysis should focus on the impact of a suspect term on the integrity of the contracting system or to an enabling statute. If a contract term materially undermines or compromises the integrity of the system for contracting or the integrity of an enabling statute, it should be found unconscionable. In the family law arena things differ because of the substance of the relationships involved and because the need for mutual consideration is de-emphasized. Accordingly, in …

Divorce Child Custody Mediation: In Order To Form A More Perfect Disunion , Ben Barlow

Cleveland State Law Review

The adversarial process serves its purpose in our society; however, that does not mean that there are not better ways to handle specific cases. To that end, nonadversarial systems offer tremendous potential in civil litigation, in governmental relations, in neighborhood and family conflicts, and, especially, in divorce child custody cases. If mediation statutes are contemplated for the sole purpose of judicial economy, discretionary statutes are sufficient. For the true value of mediation to be experienced, however, a mandatory scheme containing safeguards for cases involving domestic violence should be implemented.Understandably, many mediators are leery of the effect that mandatory schemes have …

Contract Sports, Martha M. Ertman

Cleveland State Law Review

I explore ways that the private law of commerce can be imported to the private law of domestic relations to remedy family law's inadequacy and inequality. Existing domestic relations law posits heterosexual marriage as naturally superior to other forms of intimate affiliation, rendering the others (such as cohabitation, same-sex sexuality, and polyamory) unnatural and inferior. As such, it fails to recognize many intimate affiliations. Two examples of bridging the divide between private business law and private family law that I discuss in this essay are cohabitation contracts and Premarital Security Agreements. Importing private business models to domestic relations law has …

Second-Parent Adoption, Patricia J. Falk

Cleveland State Law Review

My topic for today's presentation is second-parent adoption. I hope to accomplish four things in my discussion. First, I will define second-parent adoption and give some reasons that it is desirable for both parents and children. Second, I will summarize the state of the law in terms of legislative enactments and case law in the United States. Third, I will discuss the role of social science in second-parent adoption cases. Finally, I will discuss some of the implications of recognizing these adoptions.

Second-Parent Adoption By Same-Sex Couples In Ohio: Unsettled And Unsettling Law, Susan J. Becker

Cleveland State Law Review

In addition to the need for homes for children without any legally recognized parent, the need for a child who already has one legal parent to be adopted by the parent's gay or lesbian partner who is already serving as a de facto parent is very important to the child's emotional stability and material well being. This type of adoption, frequently referred to as a "second-parent" adoption,' is the focal point of this article. However, the matters discussed herein also apply directly and by analogy to situations where gay and lesbian couples and heterosexual unmarried couples desire to jointly adopt …

A Child Conceived After His Father's Death: Posthumous Reproduction And Inheritance Rights - An Analysis Of Ohio Statutes, Cindy L. Steeb

Cleveland State Law Review

This Article will argue that the posthumous child and the rights and responsibilities relating to such a child, are directly related to the fundamental right to procreate, thus statutes must support rather than prohibit posthumous conception. It will argue that legislation must necessarily incorporate that right in determining issues and forming legislation related to the posthumous child. It will show that current legislation, both the various Uniform Codes and Ohio's Revised Code, is not sufficient to protect and provide for this new class of children. In reaching this conclusion, Part II of this Article will review the history of artificial …

Grandparent Visitation Rights In Ohio After Grandchild Adoption: Is It Time To Move In A New Direction , Genevieve Louise Adamo

Cleveland State Law Review

This note will explain why the Ohio legislature should change the current law regarding grandparent visitation following the adoption of their grandchildren. This note will first explore the way that Ohio looked at the issue of grandparent visitation following the adoption of their grandchildren prior to the Ohio Supreme Court decisions in Ridenour and Martin. Then this note will examine the decisions in Ridenour and Martin. Next this note will discuss other states' laws which allow grandparent visitation following a stepparent adoption. Finally, this note will examine some of the studies and commentaries which suggest that grandparent visitation following stepparent …

Ohio House Bill 419: Increased Openness In Adoption Records Law, Wendy L. Weiss

Cleveland State Law Review

Across the country, states have been enacting legislation to provide more information to adoptees about their birth. In 1995, the Ohio legislature passed House Bill 419. The bill will reform Ohio's adoption law, especially in the area of open adoption records. This Note will analyze House Bill 419 amidst the current move toward increased openness and the controversy surrounding this move. First, this Note will examine the history of secrecy in adoption in the United States and in Ohio. Second, it will explain the changes in adoption records enacted by House Bill 419 and the effects of the abortion controversy …

Ohio's Child Support Guidelines: A Springboard Or A Crutch, Lois J. Cole

Cleveland State Law Review

The purpose of this Note is to clarify the ramifications of Ohio's Child Support Guidelines and the 1988 Amendments. An examination of Ohio's child support law will necessarily begin with the background of federal child support legislation beginning with the Social Security Act of 1935. Mandates from this legislation, and its succeeding amendments over fifty years, are followed resulting in an examination of Ohio's Child Support Guidelines. Next, this Note focuses on the importance of judicial discretion and its role in the successful implementation of the Guidelines as well as whether Ohio's Guidelines should be used as a rebuttable presumption …

Enforcement Of Surrogate Mother Contracts: Case Law, The Uniform Acts, And State And Federal Legislation, James T. Flaherty

Cleveland State Law Review

Surrogate motherhood is possibly the most viable family issue in today's society, and especially in the law. Surrogacy will be treated here solely as a fact of life, and examined solely from the point of view of its legal status under the appropriate Uniform Acts, existing and proposed legislation outside Ohio, and existing Ohio law. It may sound strange that Ohio was chosen as an example, in that a search of Ohio law will not show any law directly dealing with surrogacy. But then, that is the point. Ohio is one of only three states that have adopted both relevant …

Standard Of Proof In Proceedings To Terminate Parental Rights, Dean Michael Rooney

Cleveland State Law Review

This Note advocates the use of the beyond-a-reasonable-doubt standard of proof in proceedings to terminate parental rights permanently. The Note will commence with background considerations such as the authority of the state to terminate parental rights, the rights of the parties involved in a termination proceeding and a discussion of standards of proof. Consideration will also be given to the factors which should have an impact on the standard of proof in permanent termination proceedings. These factors include: the vagueness of termination statutes, the fundamental right of family integrity, the broad discretionary powers of the courts involved, the need for …

Alimony And Child Support In Ohio: New Directions After Dissolution, William Louis Tabac

Cleveland State Law Review

Recent decisions by the Ohio Supreme Court will undoubtedly have significant impact upon post-dissolution alimony and child support. In rejecting basic premises upon which domestic relations courts have historically ordered such payments, the court has set new directions. Traditional notions of sex-based roles in the support of the family have been set aside and new standards, based upon the needs of the parties and the factual circumstances in particular cases, have been established. As a result, the husband's statutory duty to support his wife and children during marriage will no longer govern his responsibilities toward the family following dissolution, and …

Adoption Reform In Ohio, Kathleen Haack Hartley

Cleveland State Law Review

This note will treat the three areas of the proposed Ohio Adoption Reform bill which seem significant: the need for agency consent in adoption proceedings; the rights of putative fathers in adoption proceedings; and independent adoptions. While a complete separation of the social and legal consequences of the proposed changes is not always possible, this note will focus primarily on the legal ramifications in these particular areas by sampling the laws of various states with an emphasis on Ohio law as it relates to the proposed adoption procedure.

Artificial Insemination - A Model Statute, Leonard G. Kamlet

Cleveland State Law Review

The increasing incidence of artificial inseminations in the fifties and sixties resulted in a profusion of commentary devoted to the significance of the procedure. Characteristic of the motivations of many writers were the moral, psychological, and social implications of the technique. In contrast, the creative legal response was limited. Paralleling the stagnation of judicial and legislative action in most states, the number of commentators addressing the issue in recent years has been minimal. This comment hopes to focus the attention of legislators on the need to clarify the morass surrounding artificial insemination.

Adoption Laws Of Ohio: A Critical And Comparative Study, William K. Yost

Cleveland State Law Review

Adoption has been defined as "The act by which the relations of paternity and affiliation are recognized as legally existing between persons not so related."' However, the result of adoption is the creation of a status, that of parent and child, and not of a contractual obligation. In this respect it is similar to marriage. A study of adoption perforce requires an examination of the practice and the law involved in the placement of children for adoption, the termination of the rights and obligation of the natural parents, the procedures of adoption in the courts and the legal effect of …